Samsung Galaxy note 2, Google Nexus 4 and more updates ...

A lot has happened since Apple launched its iPhone5. Most intriguing is the failure of Maps on iOS6 and Apple firing its executives and project manager in the Maps team ! Are the iOS maps really that bad ? Well, they might look visually good, apparently they are not accurate. I have not personally used the maps on my ipad but I do miss the google maps which disappeared after I upgraded from iOS5. I now use the browser version of google maps on my ipad, the best alternative for apple users.

Mobile space has heated up with Samsung Note 2 doing incredibly well, and also by the launch of nice-looking Windows 8 based Nokia Lumia Phones. Google Nexus 4 by LG has made its appearance as well, (finally, was much awaited), but it sold out even before it went out for sale (literally, if some tech journals are to be believed). With the Blackberry 10 coming up next year in Jan, this is going to be exciting.

And since I am in the fray to get a new mobile phone after my blackberry curve contract ended few months back, I am interested in the seeing how the market responds to the new handsets, all of whom have good reviews and are 'best-selling' (!). I have my eye on the iPhone5 but its too pricey (and even out of my budget, apparently, as suggested to me by one of the phone gurus from phones4u !). Well, to be fair, yes it is too pricey, especially after paying a meager £25/month on my blackberry contract for the last 2 years. It appears that the cheapest iPhone contract I can get is for £39 / month. An unlocked one in the UK costs £529, and after doing all NPV calculations etc, came to a conclusion that a contract worth 35 or below will be cost-efficient, and for anything more than that I will be better off buying an unlocked one ! As price-sensitive I am, I decided to wait and watch the market for few more months. The iPhone prices have come down, from a min of £42/month to around £38-£39/month now.

Also had a look at the Samsung Galaxy note 2, and found it really smart ! Its big, on the look and feel of it, but its quite easy to use, responsive and full of features. After using it for a while, I thought I could handle it ! The stylus adds an extra bit of weight to its already huge list of features. So this phone is definitely another option which is worth exploring.

Another phone I am looking for is the Nexus 4 from LG, which is a powerhouse of an android device with Jellybean 4.2 and a powerful processor, high RAM etc. It lacks 4G LTE, but in the UK I don't think its going to be affordable in the near future (at least for me). However, its hard to get hands on, and sold out everywhere (tried the US and Canada stores as well). Carphonewarehouse are selling it at a premium over its advertised price of £279 (16GB) on google play.
 

 

iPhone 5 Launched !

Whoa ! Finally its here !

Let me be frank. The only reason I have added this post to my blog is to generate some traffic to my blog, or rather to see if this really works.

If you are in the UK and want to buy an unlocked iPhone you can do so from 21st September. Details on the apple uk store:

Am I buying it ? Well, no. At least not for another 6 months. When it comes to phones I am one of those wait-and-see-how-this-goes types. Definitely not the early adopters, and I like to press buttons than touch. But the iphone is a good product in general, and will consider buying one when my current phone (yes, you guessed it right, blackberry) dies.

Pricing: You can buy the unlocked version from the apple store for £529 (basic one), but prices on contract are not yet out. Samsungs and HTCs have a tough time ahead, as I have already seen them dropping prices. Just saw a £29 a month contract on Galaxy S3 in today's daily, which is much less than when it was launched. I don't think the iphone5 will be available below $42 (close to iphone4s launch price I believe), and will give the android makers the run for their money.

Until then I will sit back, see other people use it, read reviews, compare tariffs (Oh! I love doing that) and enjoy.

 

Updates:

• Sept 14:  Apple iphone 5 sold out on first day, 20x times faster than iphone 4s ! (Techcrunch link). Despite reports claiming that iphone5 launch was a damp squib and it did not live up to the expectations and hype, fact of the matter is that the iphone still is the most popular phones in the market.

 

Oracle vs Google : Lawsuit of the decade !

Oracle is suing Google over Google using the Java framework in Android without license.

This presentation released by Oracle gives a clear picture of what it is suing Google for. It definitely presents the picture from Oracle's part, and on first look paints a very dark picture about Google's use of android. Oracle claims that the Android framework is copied from Java, without paying the due credit, and of harming the bigger java community. Some example (of code) do suggest that Android is based on Java, a lot of it is just taken verbatim.

This part of the presentation clarifies what is going on :

Do you need a license if you are building an application using Java : No. However, if you are extending Java, and providing an API specification or application framework of your own, you do need one, especially for commercial purposes. Android clearly (until court decides otherwise), in my holy opinion, falls under that category.

Here is what the presentation says about 'When is a Java License necessary' :

• You are writing an application (say a web-application) in Java programming language : NO


• You are providing class libraries on Java API Designs : YES


• Downloading java software components: YES

Most of the developers of java fall under the first category, but some companies do need to use Java for the rest two and they thus purchase License from Oracle (formerly from Sun) and some also contribute to Java community. Several exampls quoted in the presentation.

I think Oracle has a good case, however the Google side of the story is interesting as well, as it claims that Java programming language, or any language for that matter is not copyrightable. Partly true, and remains to be seen how it is presented in court. Meanwhile, the hearing started in San Francisco yesterday (17th April) and the next 8 weeks are going to be really interesting.

And then remains the lawsuit about the patent/copyright infringements which will be heard soon after. More on that later.

References:

Oracle presentation (91 pages, takes a while to open) : http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/features/opening-slides-1592541.pdf

Bloomberg news coverage : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-17/ellison-testifies-oracle-explored-dropped-making-java-phone-1-.html

BBC news : http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17705873

Some more GMAT tips

Recently an acquaintance, one of my brothers buddies, emailed me asking about some GMAT tips. I noticed that I have not written anything on that topic so here it is. I will try to answer the basic questions people have when they think about taking the test (or when they think about taking the MBA plunge). Will write the same things that I replied to this guy.

1. How much time needed for preps ?

'That depends ! ' on individual. Why not take a test now without preparation and see how you score. You will know exactly how much preparation you need (I know you are mature enough). You will find a lot of online tests for free  - try mba.com first.

2. Which books to refer ?

I referred to a limited set of materials as I had limited time. Depending on how much time you have you can refer to more. however, doing the official guide thoroughly is a must.

3. When should I take the GMAT ?

Check the university websites you want to apply to and note down the application deadlines etc. All of them have several rounds of applications (mostly starting from July/Aug) and its better to apply in Round 1. They sometimes also mention the time during which you should have taken the gmat (not too long back, and not very recent - like a month as well !, so check this first).
In general, for applying to schools which start their session in Aug/Sept 2013 (for example) applications will start July/Aug 2012 and for that ideally you should take the test before end of May (or stretched to June).  For Indian b-schools, deadlines tend to be later, so you can adjust accordingly, so check school websites individually.

4. Prep guidelines ? Mug Vocab, regular practice or what ?

Vocab is not so critical for GMAT as it is for GRE, so no need to mug. I believe for most of us Indians, Quants (QA) is also not an issue. Verbal is something which needs practice and tuning. So start early on that, and do that as often as possible. For grammar basics, buy a Wren&Martin English grammar book early on and go through it once.

5. What score is good enough ?

    Score is something which puzzles everyone. Remember that GMAT is only a necessary condition for entry and not sufficient. I would say its only 10% sufficient. This means that a good score would only mean you have fulfilled only 10% of criteria for admission. However, a poor score (less than 650 perhaps) would not take you anywhere unless you have an excellent academic record throughout + excellent career progression + extra curriculars.
For US b-schools, at least for the top 15, as an average Indian with engineering background, you must have at least 720-730. Check www.pagalguy.com, they have discussion threads on various schools and profile/GMAT scores of people who were admitted in prior years. I know people who have made it to good top 20 schools in the US with 680-720 as well, but they had excellent application/essays, recommendations, top-notch work experience and very good extra curricular to back it up. Also it makes a good case for scholarships if the score is good.
Also be aware of the average/minimum gmat score required for admission reported on school websites. You must add 20 to that score as they all put Indian applicants into a different pool where the competition tend to be (naturally !) intense. So the average GMAT score of Indians who get through is 20 more than overall class average.

Feel free to post any questions on this thread.

Here is my GMAT experience post - http://followingmydream.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/my-gmat-story/
Also there is a post about mba abroad in general - http://followingmydream.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/thinking-of-doing-an-mba-abroad/

Like almost every other thing in the world, read these with a pinch of salt !

Love the Sky Sports Cricket broadcast

After having watched cricket back home on television for so long, I had noticed how much was I missing when its telecast without any advertisements. It cant get better than watching it live on sky sports. Well there are commercial breaks in between, but occasionally (say once after 10 overs) , and not so frequent as we have in India. And they do not eat up the first and last balls of the crucial overs.

How else could I have noticed the mannerisms of VVS during the recent tour to Australia. The way he strokes the crease number of times after the over is complete before going to talk to the batsman on the other end, can only be seen when you are watching the sport completely without any interruption especially between overs.

I noticed another such mannerism in Morne Morkel during their recent series. While starting his run-up Morne would first walk towards the straight boundary a few steps before starting to turn around and run for his runup. Quite peculiar and easy to miss.

I might have seen them while viewing them on ESPN/Neo in India as well, but that is not the point. The joy of watching a sports to me is to follow it completely between and after overs. I love it when the camera keeps following a batsman or a bowler covering his every move during that between-over break. Its part of the game, and I think its a shame we have to put advertisements during that period. Not that we have not got enough of them all across the screen during an over.

When the Cheapest is not the best-selling

I have a theory on consumer behavior and product pricing. It is basically that the second cheapest item in the market will sell the most. Well, I have  not done comprehensive research on the topic but I think its generally true.

It comes from my own behavior when it comes to buying any item, be it something of daily use or a one off purchase. I look at the cheapest option first, for obvious reasons, and then somehow settle down on the next best in terms of price. Reasoning being that the cheapest item would definitely be prone to defects, and also because no good item of some considerable value can be priced so low, so the item must be dodgy. Of course, discounting the cases where its a regular purchase, and I know the product well.

Consider the Tata Nano. Do read the story - http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39215/?mod=related - suggesting that its not selling as a hot cake Ratan Tata hoped it would (70000 units a year against 250000 odd projected), atleast not yet.

Apart from the various reasons suggested for the for the failure (or limited success !) of the Nano, I would say it did not sell because of the fact that it was the cheapest. And if I know the psyche of the Indian consumer (atleast of them who can spend INR 100000 on a car), I know that one would think twenty times before buying a 'cheap' item from the market, especially when its not 'imported' and looks like an autorickshaw (tuk-tuk).

The Alto, best selling small car by Maruti Suzuki, which comes in a 800 cc, outsells the erstwhile Maruti Suzuki 800 and now the Nano, precisely because of the same reason. Although, the Alto is a far better car, and apart from being economical, is very agile and smart-looking for a small city car. However, it sells well not only because its cheap, but because its costlier than the earlier Maruti 800.

For many Indian families, a car purchase is a moment of pride for a family, especially when it is something which your neighbors can not match. Purchasing the cheapest Nano wont give you that satisfaction, but buying the next costlier item in the list (without disturbing your budget) might.

 

 

Finally India Wins a Series - after a long time

It seems a long time since I have seen the Indian team win. The last time I went to witness the games, when Indian toured England in the Summer earlier this year, we lost. And boy, we lost comprehensively. The ODI tournament was a bit of a fightback, after a complete 4-0 whitewash of test series. The fact that we just lost 3-0 in 5 ODI games, proves that we played better in the ODIs - one game was drawn, and another washed away by rain.

However, coming back to the ongoing series in India, we have won 3 out of 5 and have got - what cricket reporters love to say - unassailable lead of 3-0. Feels good !

What feels more good is to see the news coverage on print and other media. Just love it. Love the way English team is being hammered and the Indian team being glorified. However, fact being nothing much has changed between the last series in England, apart from the conditions. While, we can definitely win abroad, and the last series was lost because of injuries (and bad luck !), the English can not win in foreign conditions, especially in India.

A few news pieces which I loved , especially on the English wicketkeeper who I think jumps around more often than needed.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2011/content/story/537235.html

Cricinfo : "... The most culpable man was the wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, who missed an early chance to remove Gambhir on 17, before dropping Virat Kohli off a Jade Dernbach bouncer at a crucial juncture. "

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/20/england-india-one-day

Guardian Reports - "The experiment with Kieswetter is not working and there is no real reason to continue with it now, given his keeping in this match. Both Gambhir and Kohli were dropped and there may have been a stumping chance as well."

The Independent : "India sealed victory with four balls left when Dhoni imperiously smote the first and second balls of the final over for four. He has now scored 250 runs in his last four innings against England without being dismissed – 78no, 50no, 87no and last night 35no. The world supply of asterisks may be under threat. " - http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/dhoni-wraps-up-series-then-sticks-knife-into-england-2373567.html

BBC : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15384514.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15396104.stm

Cricketnext.in : http://cricketnext.in.com/news/india-win-revenge-series-against-england/60957-13.html